


Will O' The Wisp

by Anonymous_As_Myself



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Don't follow faeries into the woods, Everything happens in the woods, Fae AU, Fae!Deceit, God I love faeries, I like describing trees, Lies and half-truths, M/M, Manipulation, Patton is Good, Please don't name your pets Screamer Video, Roman will fight for his boyfriend, Smarter than people thinks but Patt u still kinda a fool, Soft to eerie aesthetic, Twin!Loceit, Virgil exists but not that much, fae!Logan, no matter how close you think you are, or do, the most fluff I have ever written probably but you know it won't last
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2019-08-03 12:51:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16326584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous_As_Myself/pseuds/Anonymous_As_Myself
Summary: Patton’s always believed there’s more the the world than meets the eye. Or at least-meets others’ eyes..his own have always seen glimpses of shimmer in the bushes, colors in the breeze, movement in the shadows.It was only distant hope-until a day of exploration in the woods led him to become acquainted with a pair of Fae twins. They call themselves Truth and Lies…But does he really know which is which?





	1. You Come to My Home to Dance and be Merry

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and welcome to the Fae AU. Note: Fae, not fairy..you can't promise good things from the fae.  
> But this is also my first time writing Royality-and it's been very fun so far. Now, on with the show.

Patton was grinning so wide he felt his face would split in two.   
He’d seen it before of course, the simple little house that he and Roman had been saving up to rent for the summer. Sure, maybe it was a bit of a splurge-okay, a lot of one, but Roman was able to go full time at Sephora that they weren’t having classes anymore, and Patton’s job at Color Me Mine paid decently..plus. The moment the two of them had seen the place, they’d fallen in love.    
You really couldn’t blame them.

The house stood two stories, painted a pale gray with flowers of red, pink, and yellow lining the cobble pathway. A rocking chair sat on the porch, overlooking the yard. 

Yard, of course, meant countryside. A white picket surrounded the ‘technical’ yard, of course, one mostly neatly trimmed grass with the occasional spattering of daisies, but beyond the gate, and the yards of adjacent houses (ones that stood a considerable distance away) was the green field the houses had been built upon unbridled, soon disappearing into the brush and foliage that marked the woods.

It looked like a house out of  _ Tinkerbell _ , or some other story you’d drink up as a child. And that was exactly why he and Roman had picked it.   
They’d both been in love with those sorts of stories as children, and in neither of them did that love fade. Perhaps it was partially responsible for their love for each other as well..the house was a dream come true, if only for a while.

Pressing the large cardboard box in his hands against the wall, Patton took the key from his pocket and unlocked the door, hefting the box back up and bumping it open with his hip before stepping inside. He placed the box down by the door, hearing an echo of the soft  _ thud _ in the form of Roman placing down his own box on the opposite side of the door. 

The house was already furnished, the movers having come before they arrived, but it was still up to Patton and Roman to place their things. 

The living room was first. Books were placed on shelves, flowery pillows thrown onto the couch, pictures lined up above the mantle of the _ real, actual fireplace _ , all to the sound of various Disney songs, both of them cheerfully belting out the lyrics.

As the sun dipped in the sky, casting the little house in the warm light of noon, clothes were put away in closets, posters from Roman’s old shows were taped onto the walls, yet more pictures were displayed on shelves and on dressers, and fairy lights were strung from the ceiling. By the time they reached the kitchen to put away the  _ numerous _ unnecessarily embroidered pot holders, the track had switched to musicals-though older ones, ones Patton wasn’t as familiar with-though Roman continued to happily belt out the lyrics to shows like  _ Sweeney Todd _ ,  _ Ruddigore _ , and The  _ Mikado. _

At that point they broke for lunch-or rather, called a pizza and curled up together on the couch. The tv hadn’t been hooked up yet, so instead Patton sat on Roman’s lap (he would have done it regardless, but in this case it was necessary) so they could both watch YouTube videos on Roman’s laptop. 

They sat in comfortable silence a while, just enjoying each other’s company and the quiet, until Roman voiced the thoughts running through both of their heads.

“I can’t believe we’re finally here! Feels like  _ years _ since we decided on the place, and now summer is practically over! What time do we even have left in this little cottage..”

Okay-maybe not the exactly thoughts, but mostly. Patton only laughed, pressing a little kiss to his boyfriend’s tanned cheek and then bumping their noses together, delighting in Roman’s giggle.   
“Aw, come on, it’s only been two weeks, we have plenty of time! And like you said, we’re here, aren’t we?”   
“I know, but it still feels like so much time gone..” Roman attempted a pout, but another onslaught of little pecks to his nose and cheeks wiped the expression off in favor of a grin before you could even blink. Patton turned around so they could face each other a bit easier, and felt arms tighten around his waist once Roman placed the computer aside.

“Okay, sure, but time gone isn’t time wasted! Plus, I doubt we could have made it to that movie you and Virge were so excited about if we’d been all the way out here!”   
“..I suppose you have a point, Sunlight,” Roman sighed, his smile softening to a more tender one as his fingers came up to toy with Patton’s fire-red curls. “I bet old Brendon Ur-In-For-A-Lecture wouldn’t have let us leave if we hadn’t thought it over a billion times anyway.” 

“Probably not..I hope he isn’t too lonely without us,” Patton mused aloud, a bit of the mirth fading from his voice.    
“I doubt it. He’s got Joan and Talyn to drag him out of his little grump cave, and we’re not  _ that  _ far away.”   
“True. Hey-maybe Skype him after lunch? I don’t think he has work today.”   
“What a glorious idea! And we can show him the place too!”   
Patton nodded-once again, smiling as he glanced around the little house. His cheeks would probably start hurting soon, goodness knows he didn’t mind.

 

Not long after (though a bit longer than they were used to, now being out of the city) the pizza girl arrived. Patton got up to get it, offering a smile and a generous tip, before grabbing a few sodas from the fridge and plopping back down next to Roman as they ate their lunch. But admittedly, neither of them could wait. Roman’s sparkly, rose-gold laptop was loading up Skype by the time Patton had started his second slice.   
When Virgil did pick up the call (they had been right about the day) the screen was almost completely dark except for the eerie white glow on Virgil’s already frighteningly pale face. Judging by past patterns, it was likely that he had completely bundled himself in blankets and turned all the lights off. Roman, naturally, screamed, while Patton just smiled and offered a little wave. Virgil silently flipped his middle finger up at Roman, who naturally let out an offended squawk in return, though sheepishly put it down at Patton’s disapproving frown. Patton quickly brightened back up again, ignoring Roman’s insistence on sticking out his tongue at Virgil from over his shoulder.   
“Heya Vee!”   
“Hi Patt, sup Romano,” Virgil replied, offering his signature two-fingered salute before resting his chin back on his hands. “Settled in already?”   
“Not quite, we just took a break for lunch!” Patton held out his piece of pizza to indicate.

“Got it. Well...how’s it going then?”   
“Delightfully!” Roman announced from behind Patton’s shoulder, “I think we’ve got most everything set up by now, just the bathroom and a few other things to go.”   
“Yep!” Patton chimed in, “I can’t wait to check out the fields, they never let us when we were touring the place!”

“Just don’t get lost.”   
“I won’t, kiddo,” Patton replied, softening his smile into one more gentle and reassuring. “We’re gonna be fine out here. And I know being an hour away kinda sucks, but it isn’t that bad!”   
“You’d better be, Virgil muttered-then there was a muffled thump from offscreen and he glanced to the side, frowning and craning his neck. 

“What?” Roman asked, leaning closer as if that would help him see what had happened on Virgil’s end. Virgil just shrugged, and looked back.    
“Sorry, it’s just SV, she knocked a book off the table.”   
At this, Patton giggled, but Roman gave the most exaggerated eye roll yet and leaned back further into the couch. “Really Virgil? It’s been two months, you still haven’t given that cat a proper name?”   
“Screamer Video is a perfectly respectable name for a moron who yowls at me at 3am every night on the dot!”   
“You can’t just name a cat  _ Screamer Video _ -”

“Yes, that’s why I call her SV!”   
_ Here we go again, _ Patton thought with a sigh, somewhere between endeared, amused, and exasperated.

“Maybe she’s trying to tell you to go to  _ sleep, _ Vee,” Patton offered, but Virgil just glared too. Not a real glare, but more a look of mock suspicion.    
“Sleep is for the weak.”

“I dunno, pretty sure you’re supposed to sleep on Saturdays and Sundays too!”

There was a beat. Roman laughed. Virgil groaned-normally he’d laugh, but this was a weaponized pun. Curses.

“Come on,” Patton insisted, undeterred. “You’re not around to keep an eye on us but that’s vice versa too! Take care of yourself, please?”   
“...Yeah, okay Patt,” Virgil sighed-offering a little smile, and Patton gratefully returned it. 

“I still can’t believe you would name your cat such a thing,” Roman grumbled.

“Because I can, okay!”   
Patton may have facepalmed. But he loved his silly little night-and-day friends, even if they could have the same argument for hours. 

“You agreed to let us live voraciously through your ownership of a cat! And you name her  _ Screamer Video _ -”   
“I literally never once said that, you just said you were going to!”   
“LET ME LIVE YOU HEATHEN-”   
Eventually, as the argument devolved further into ludicracy, Patton was keeled over giggling, and Roman was performing an action that could only be described as ‘angrily eating pizza’. Which meant every time Virgil would fire back, he would huff, take a bite as if the pizza was the one offending him, and then gesture with it as he responded. Patton just attempted to finish up his serving between bouts of laughter.

_ Eventually _ , the two tired themselves out. Sure Patton didn’t like it when they really fought, but when it was these types of friendly spats, he really couldn’t help but find them endearing.

However, SV herself vehemently refused to stop being the center of attention, so as the three finally faded into a brief silence-she took that exact opportunity to jump up onto Virgil’s bed, her white-and-black patched fur completely obscuring the screen for a moment, and then the call went dead. 

Virgil called back a minute later, the cat perched on his back and purring happily, not at all matching her owner’s  _ thoroughly _ annoyed expression.

“Sorry, this moron decided she was going to nap on my keyboard.”   
“That is no way to speak to your daughter!” Patton scolded, and Virgil flopped his head down onto the dark purple sheets.   
“So….met the neighbors yet?” Virgil finally asked, clearly trying to change the subject. Roman was the one to shake his head.

“No. It’s not like the suburbs further in-we’re not really all that close together. We’ll go to meet them tomorrow, right Sunlight?”   
“Mhm!” Patton nodded. “It must be so nice living out here full time..I bet autumn looks beautiful.” He could picture it. The whole expanse of land, the green trees and matching grass, the flowers blooming in between the bushes, the fruit trees he’d seen in their closes neighbor’s yard, being set ablaze by the afternoon sun in bright shades of red and gold. He might be a ‘summer child’ from what everyone seemed to say, but Patton also had a love for early autumn, when everything was bright and colorful and the chills still hadn’t quite come yet. Roman preferred later autumn though, when he could bundle up in a nice red leather jacket and a scarf while sipping on a pumpkin spice latte.

“Indeed!” Roman agreed, a smile breaking across his face too. “If all goes well, we might have to return.”   
“If you have the money,” Virgil grumbled out quietly. It had taken Patton a while to learn that Virgil tended to use that particular tone when he really didn’t  _ want  _ to be negative, but felt the need to in order to avoid catastrophe. He was about to offer a response, but found himself even more pleased when Roman caught on to the same cue he did.

“Yes, yes, if we have the money, but I’m sure we will! It doesn’t have to be  _ next _ summer after all.”

Virgil shrugged and made a noncommittal noise. SV batted at his hair and he shoved her little black paw out of his eyes. 

“Anyway, Ro, you should be glad to know you’re not gonna be leaving your ‘most likely to try and turn a kid’s toy into a real horse by sheer force of will and wine’ spot open, you know what I saw this kid do yesterday?”   
“I shall have you know I didn’t  _ actually  _ think it was real-” Roman huffed, but Virgil was already grinning ear to ear and beginning to recount.

Virgil worked security at the local mall, a place Roman frequented, and at this point, probably the entire mall staff, all of Roman and Patton’s coworkers, Talyn and Joan’s friends, and the mayor knew about the one time Roman had gotten drunk off his ass on wine after suffering through the season finale of a particularly heart wrenching show, had come to the mall, gone into the toy store, sat down on a plush rocking horse, then refused to leave until the store manager was forced to call security (security being Virgil) and rather than complying, Roman began to claim that his ‘mighty steed would trample all in his path to happiness’ and attempted to scoot it out of the store. He actually had made it about halfway to the door because Virgil was laughing so hard, but eventually he was ‘apprehended’ (read: yanked off the rocking horse) and dragged out of the store and picked up by Patton. 

He had insisted his life was over and refused to leave the house for the entire weekend. Virgil had probably spent as much time laughing about it. 

But now, Virgil was recounting the tale of a teenage girl who had attempted to get Dippin Dots out of the machine, then when it refused to give her any, she ‘disowned it as her child, threatened to never let it marry, and then attempted to beat it up.’

This left pretty much all of them cracking up.

“I AM NO LONGER THE MALL JESTER! MY HONOR IS RESTORED!” Roman triumphantly crowed.

“Woah there Prince Zuko!” Patton giggled-a comment that promptly got a pillow chucked at his face, which only made him laugh harder. And then Roman was wrestling him back to the couch, both of them laughing, Patton’s freckled arms over his face as he tried to bravely fend off his foe’s waving of the pillow. He grabbed it and began attempting to strike back, but then the pillow was torn from his hands and-oh no. Roman’s fingers found his stomach, pushing up his shirt a little to get at his fleshy sides and tickling him. Patton burst into an even harder fit of giggles, his chest soon beginning to actually hurt as he squirmed and tried to push Roman off, calling for a truce! 

And then suddenly it did stop, and soft lips were pressed to his-Patton kissed back of course, his chest still heaving as he gasped for air, the wide smile still plastered all over his face. 

Roman’s hands remained on his sides, but were now gently gripping them rather than tickling, warm against his skin. Patton’s hands looped around his neck and-

“Oh my god, can you two get a room?” Virgil groaned-and Patton squeaked. Totally forgot about him-Roman sat up with a chuckle, both of them with pink tinges to their cheeks.

Patton’s grew darker against his pale cheeks once he realized his shirt had stayed ridden up-he tugged it down quickly to hide his stomach. No one needed to see that.

“Oh lighten up Gerard Way-to-ruin-the-mood, you won’t even have to see it anymore!” Roman huffed, sticking his chin out at the monitor and crossing his arms.

“I dare you to go for ten minutes without making out,” Virgil deadpanned. At that, Roman smirked.

“I would take you up on that offer, would it not mean depriving myself of my rosebud’s kiss, and that would be a crime!”

Patton’s cheeks must match his hair at this point, and he muffled a giggle with his mouth as Virgil gagged.    
“Okay yeah, I’m gonna go. Um, don’t die in the woods, don’t get bitten by any mosquitos, don’t traumatize the neighbors with your loud sex, bye.”

“VIRGIL!!” Patton squeaked, and Roman sputtered indignantly, but by the time both of them were even able to think of a retort, Virgil’s face was gone from the computer and the call ended. Both of them were now equally red.

“Remind me why we’re friends with him again?” Roman huffed, as Patton closed the laptop and placed it next to their mostly-empty pizza box.

“Because he cares about us! Even if some of his warnings are  _ uncalled for _ ,” Patton muttered, though there was still a hint of disapproval in his voice.

But it didn’t last-not when Roman suddenly leaned forward and cupped one hand under Patton’s chin, leaning in with a cheshire grin and a faint brushing of their lips. 

“I don’t know, now I’m tempted to disregard at least one of those pieces of ‘advice..’ he hummed.

A grin lit Patton’s face-a laugh bubbling in his throat as he gripped the front of Roman’s t-shirt and tugged him in for a real kiss. His back soon met the couch, sinking into the soft upholstery, Roman’s hands falling to his hips. Patton retaliated with tangling his own fingers in Roman’s soft, golden-brown hair, but it was only when Roman’s lips detached to run a trail of little kisses down his jawline and to his neck that Patton pushed him away. 

His boyfriend pouted-looking a bit like a puppy when you pretend-throw the ball too many times, a clear contrast to Patton’s wide smile, and the sparkles of mischief in his eyes. 

“Come on, we have to finish up and I want to check out the woods before it gets dark!”   
Roman pursed his lips as if considering, leaning his his head on one hand and turning as Patton rolled off the couch and hopped to his feet, still grinning. Finally, he sighed, though bits of that coy grin immediately started to leak back into his expression.

“Fine, fine, but if you decide to tease me all evening I swear to Frigga I will have no choice but to throw you over my shoulder and bring you back here!”

“I can deal with that!” Patton laughed, offering a wink before reaching out to grab Roman’s hands and tug him to his feet. He was immediately dragged into one last long kiss before they parted to finish up unpacking, but hey, who was he to complain.

 

They finished the bathroom in about ten minutes, scattered a few remaining knicknacks here and there, and were done. 

Patton was first out the door, Roman following close behind after locking it. Together, they walked off the little cobble path and into the backyard, towards the gate. Roman tried to leap over the fence (he made it, though didn’t exactly stick the landing) while Patton just went through the gate. And from that point, it was barely a minute to the edge of the woods.

The trees built up gradually-one moment you were out on the plains, just spotting a leafy cloud above-and the next there was nothing but forest. Patton managed to locate a narrow dirt trail fairly early on-which was a relief, he didn’t want to get lost. It was only big enough for about one person, but they weren’t exactly surrounded by brush on all sides, so they did not have to move single file.

The forest was fairly open actually, most of the ground coated with moss, bushes here and there in there full emerald glory, scattered ferns, and clumps of vine that would their way up tall, strong trees that curved around each other in places, but also patches of plain grass dotted with leftover spring flowers, or spots where just a few fallen twigs crossed over each other. He spotted mushrooms growing by the roots of trees, boulders here and there that had been nicked and chipped, the golden glow of the afternoon sun catching the leaves. 

They sat down together by the base of a particularly massive oak at one point, nestling in between the raised roots. They made nice seats. 

Roman leaned against Patton’s side, and Patton lifted his arms with a smile-allowing his boyfriend to nestle into his chest. His fingers absently carded through honey-colored hair, while his eyes scanned the woods. Above them, the canopy stretched high, almost entirely covering the sky, though golden sun still shone through the green leaves. He watched a small sparrow flit from one branch to another, settled farther back against the tree and listened, catching the sound of rushing water from somewhere off in the distance. Maybe there was a stream, oh, going wading would be so much fun!

“Enjoying yourself, lovely?” Came Roman’s voice from where his cheek was leaning against Patton’s chest, and Patton smiled up at the canopy.

“It’s just...it’s nice finally seeing it.”

“Well, you have all summer to enjoy it,” Roman said with a soft smile, pressing a kiss to Patton’s freckled cheek.

You couldn’t blame him for being excited. Patton had grown up far closer to the heart of the city than Roman had, and what with not owning a car (it was a bit difficult with three parents and four children) they didn’t exactly manage to make it out to the edge of civilization very often, especially not to just..wander in the woods.

But here he was-and not only lying against the rough bark of an oak, the grass tickling at his thick thighs where his shorts didn’t cover, green-tinted sun falling on his face, but all that, plus the warm, solid weight of Roman half-lying against his chest.

  
He may have nearly dozed off at one point, only brought back out of his wandering thoughts by Roman standing up-at which Patton whined, reaching up and making grabby hands. Roman chuckled, taking his boyfriend’s hand and pulling him to his feet.

“Tired from all the moving?”   
“Mhm..” Patton sighed, letting his forehead softly  _ thump _ onto Roman’s chest, reaching out and tugging his taller boyfriend close by the waist. He nuzzled a bit closer to his chest, seeking warmth like a baby bird, even in the hot summer afternoon.

“I love you too,” Roman murmured with a smile, amused at the wordless display of affection. 

They did part eventually, when some of Patton’s energy returned. Hand in hand, they continued their walk, this time deeper into the forest-following the sound of running water until they came to a small stream.

It was shallow-only looking to be six inches of cool, clear water in the deepest points, while the shallowest spots were where large, smoothed-over rocks jutted out from the creekbed. It seemed like it would be too fast for fish, but Patton did spot a few tiny minnows here and there-and immediately broke into a grin.

It took exactly no time at all for the two of them to ditch their shoes and socks (okay, it might be a wet walk back but it was worth it) and wade into the icy water, which was a welcome contrast to the heat. They danced in the water together, giggling and splashing-Patton slipped on a particularly slick rock at one point and nearly fell in-but Roman caught him at the last second, resulting in an impromptu ‘you’re my hero’ scene-in which Patton repaid Roman for his valiant actions with kisses all over his face-and one long one on the lips, all while still being held in a dip position.Their laughter echoed against the trees, coming back like ten voices instead of two. 

Roman started humming a nameless tune-and Patton joined in, continuing the random notes until they became words-ones that didn’t really rhyme or have a proper rhythm, or meaning. Musicals didn’t totally work out in real life, but a guy could dream, and coherent or not, they still ended up with wet spots all over their clothes from a ‘to-the-music-waterfight.’ Maybe not the smartest plan, but it was plenty warm enough for them to dry without trouble.

Roman grew tired after a while, and stepped out of the water, sitting himself down on a rock not covered in moss (“I can’t stain my pants, Patton!”) and holding his feet out of the water so that they dried without having to be caked in dirt first. Patton continued to splash, singing along to the nonsense song in his head, the tune which carried him further down the stream, to a tiny waterfall the height of his hand. On impulse, following the swelling of the tune, he jumped-feet sinking into the sandy patch just below the little waterfall-sending a spray of crystalline droplets all around him, dampening his shorts and all up his legs, the rocks at the bank, but Patton laughed. That had been fun!

His voice echoed, his feet carrying him over stone and song towards a narrower point of the stream, where it pinched in and then widened out, forming a deep, round pool before it pinched once more. Patton lifted his foot to wade deeper-and slipped.

He caught himself, just barely, hands splayed out on the mossy surface of a rock as he gasped for air, his heartbeat leveling out soon enough-but that had been close. Shakily, he stood up, brushing stray curls out of his face. Okay, maybe dancing in a rocky stream was not a good idea.

Then Roman appeared, having leapt from his rocky throne the moment he heard Patton’s small shriek and subsequent gasping, reaching out from his place on the grassy bank to take Patton’s hands. Patton nodded-he was a bit startled, not hurt, but he wasn’t going to say no to a little extra care.

“I’m fine, Ro. Sorry, train of thought just decided to  _ water! _ ”

Roman sighed-the terrible pun enough proof that his boyfriend was fine, and tugged on his hands. Patton stepped up onto the bank, shaking droplets from his toes and even doing a little jig in the process-one Roman jumped back from only to avoid further wetting his newly dried feet.

They walked back to where they’d stored their shoes, Patton tugging his on without worry of wet socks. Felt icky, but it’d dry soon enough. He’d love to stay out for longer, but at this point, the light was dimming-and with them having ventured a bit off the trail, heading back early was the best option.   
Luckily, the general direction from whence they’d come wasn’t too hard to recall, and while the both of them almost wandered off towards darker patches of wood or into bushes a few times, it only took them as long as the light did to fade from gold sun rays to blue evening light to find the great oak they’d rested at earlier.  It looked different when not lit by the golden-green light of afternoon, more..mysterious, powerful. The shadows it cast were massive, enveloping Patton and Roman completely in only the shade of a single branch, the tinier shadows of fingerlike twigs that knitted together overhead casting an odd dappled pattern on the ground. The woods really were beautiful at every time of day..Patton wondered what they’d look like at midnight, cast in silver moonlight-or at sunset or dawn, brilliant oranges and soft pinks dying the forest with their pale light. Or when the seasons changed..did that tree to the left blossom into flowers in the spring? What would the wood look like under rain, the smell of wet moss a pleasant companion to the sound of raindrops hitting leaves and the calm aura of a gray sky? Or leafless, every plant and branch reaching out to touch, surviving the winter chills together? Or just before, when the forest glowed with amber and gold, dry grass and leaves crunching under your feet as you walked?

Oh well. He’d have to settle for the way it was now, green and lush, in the gold or blue light of morning or evening. Patton wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t wander out into the woods at midnight, the thought sent a shiver up his spine once he thought about it more seriously. They lingered for a moment under the great shadows of the oak, before moving on-then Patton paused.    
“Roman, did you say something?”   
His boyfriend looked down, frowning slightly, confusion on his face. “No, I did not. Why?”   
“I thought I heard-” no, the sound had been too light, too low. Patton shook his head to rid it of the thought.

“Nevermind.”   
But as they stepped forward again, Roman leading the way along the thin path, Patton couldn’t resist glancing back once more. For just a split second-he swore he saw a shape, long and blue and green and draped amongst the tree’s raised roots-but when he blinked, it was gone.

Was there something wrong with his glasses?   
Or was there something there?

The rational part of his brain informed him he needed to check his lenses.   
The part of his brain that delighted in the feeling this whole place held whispered old stories in his ear.

But neither of them were listened to for long, as he was still being pulled by Roman down the path-and they did need to get home.

So he filed the fleeting image away for another day, and squeezed Roman’s large hand-following him down the path and emerging by his side, under the deep blue evening sky.

 

They made dinner together-spaghetti and meatballs, nothing extravagant, but simple, fun and delicious, then retired to the couch to watch  _ Ratatouille _ on Roman’s glittery laptop.

“Wow, I hope that’s not why we got this place so easily,” Patton joked as the onscreen ceiling crashed to the ground and a colony of rats peered back at them. Roman made a noise halfway between an awkward laugh and a shudder.

“You and me both..”

“Aw, come on, I’m sure there’s a  _ rat _ chance of any rodents running around in our roof!”

“That does not help-”   
Patton giggled, nudging Roman’s side with his elbow. “We worked hard finding this  _ mouse _ , you really think it’d end up because of a pest problem? That’d be really  _ ear _ -ritating!”

“Paaatton-” Roman whined-but Patton cut him off with a kiss. He returned it, naturally. Patton pulled away with a little smile.

“Just a joke!”   
Roman brushed hair out of his face, attempting to blow the bangs back when that didn’t quite work. “I know, I know! I’d just appreciate not having that idea in my head on night one.”   
“I’m sorry..” Patton’s smile faded for a moment-then a thought occurred, and he grinned once more-though this time it could be called more ‘mischievous smirk’ than ‘sunny smile.’

“Make it up to you?”   
“Oh, it’s fine really, just-” Roman broke off as his hazel eyes met the sparkle in Patton’s blue ones. The grin spread to his face too. “ _ Oh _ . Well in that case, I  _ really _ do think you should apologize.”   
Patton giggled as his boyfriend slowly reached over to close the laptop, and then out to tug him into his lap. Their lips met in a soft kiss, though it didn’t remain that way for long. Patton’s arms looped around Roman’s neck as Roman’s own hands found his hips, and his cheeks flushed as Roman’s tongue soon flicked at the seam of his lips. Parting them, Patton sighed into the kiss, tugging himself a bit closer-and that was when he suddenly found his seat swept out from under him as Roman stood up from the couch. Patton squeaked, gripping Roman tightly for support this time and wrapping his legs around his waist, only to do it again at the feeling of Roman’s hands gripping him by the thighs for more support. Not that he minded in the slightest..

He might not be looking, but Patton heard the bedroom door shut behind him-and well, he certainly felt his back meet the mattress as Roman dropped him.

 

Outside, crickets chirped faintly in the darkness. The quiet was...odd. Not bad, but-well, it wasn’t the sounds of cars going by outside, or a TV show blaring from the living room despite it being past midnight, or water running as his family got ready for bed.

It’d take some getting used to. 

But he had plenty of time. And being snuggled into Roman’s arms, his heartbeat slowly echoing where Patton’s ear was pressed to his tanned chest, was a wonderful way to end the night. Moonlight was the last thing he saw before his eyes slid shut, silver moonlight that shone through the white curtains and cast a faint light upon the two of them, carrying faint songs to their intertwined bodies. Or perhaps he was just sleepy.

Either way, it was a good first night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: implied sex, brief body insecurity, sympathetic deceit(?)

Patton did not rise to the sound of an alarm, as usual, but to birdsong. 

It floated through the still air and tickled his ears-and Patton blinked open his eyes, to be greeted with soft golden light streaming through the curtains. A smile slowly spread across his face. A nice way to awaken, and this thought was only amplified by the sight right in front of him-Roman’s sleeping face, his soft lips slightly parted and tawny hair beautifully mussed and half falling into closed eyes, the light reflecting off of his tanned skin, making it appear as if it glowed from beneath. Patton couldn’t help the adoring giggle that bubbled from his throat, reaching up with a pale, freckle-splattered hand to brush the wayward locks out of Roman’s face and press a light kiss to his nose.

For a few long minutes, he lay there in the warmth, Roman’s arms still wound around his waist. And Patton might have intended to stay there for hours, but he soon became aware that he was actually very hungry.

With a melancholy, fond sigh at the thought of leaving his Prince, Patton wiggled out of his arms, then rolled out of the bed to alight his feet on the floor.

The patchwork quilt on the bed caught his eye. It was made of t-shirts, every one from an old show of Roman’s (the only way Patton had been able to convince him that they needed to be retired) and a bit messily made, but both of them had fallen quite in love with the thing. Hard work and all that. A sparkle alighting in his eye, Patton reached down to tug it off the foot of the bed and wrap it like a cloak around his naked frame, letting it fall around his shoulders and clenching the fabric close to his chest in his left fist. He didn’t really feel like getting dressed, but he didn’t want to just walk around bare either. Plus, the quilt twirled.

Patton shuffled out of their bedroom, gently closing the door behind him, and made his way to the kitchen. He made breakfast and then they’d make dinner together (or just order food, they tended to do that a bit more often than either of them admitted), that was the arrangement. After all, Roman started work much earlier than Patton did, he needed his beauty sleep.

So Patton wandered into the pantry, locating where they’d stored the pancake mix far more easily than he ever did back home, and got to work. He measured the mix into a bowl, cracked in eggs and added milk, beginning to hum a tune as he grabbed a pan and began to heat it up.

 

By the time Patton was sliding pancakes off his spatula and onto a plate, the sound of footsteps echoed through the quiet hall, and he turned. Roman leaned in the archway that led into the kitchen, his hair still adorably mussed and falling into hazel eyes in a way Virgil would call ‘annoyingly pretty’ and Patton would call ‘breathtaking’. He had tossed a red tank top over himself and pulled on a fresh pair of boxers, but what Patton noted was the playful grin that he wore on his face as his gaze met Patton’s.

“So  _ that’s _ what happened to the quilt.”   
Roman strode from the archway to the counter as Patton laughed-though the laughter was quickly cut off by a squeak as Roman  brought his arms around to lace his hands behind his boyfriend and tugged him in close, leaving Patton a blushing mess with his hands clutching his scant covering to his chest.

A kiss was pressed to his lips-slow and sweet and soft-but Patton made a face and squirmed away.   
“Rooo, morning breath,” he whined-sticking his tongue out to emphasize the disgust. 

Roman pouted. “But rosebud, how am I to stop myself when you look so divine?  
”   
Despite his pink cheeks, Patton did his best to bat his boyfriend away while still holding onto the quilt. “Brush your teeth, Ro- or eat first!  _ Then _ we kiss, okay?”

Huffing-and poking Patton’s nose, Roman did concede. Patton stepped away from where he’d been leaned against the counter, watching his boyfriend eye the pancakes, then go to the fridge. He pulled out syrup for Patton and a jar of Crofter’s for his own pancake spread and then shut the fridge door.

“I’ll put this on the table,” he announced, turning back around and picking up the plate, “Why don’t you get dressed?”   
Patton nodded. He’d been planning to do that after Roman awoke anyway, so he shuffled out of the room and into the bedroom while Roman headed into the living room.

He picked out a pair of cargo shorts and reached for a favorite of his- a white t-shirt with lines of puppies playing printed along the collar and hem- but then drew his hand back. No, the last time he’d tried that on it had been too snug around his tummy.  _ Just need to lose a few pounds before I try that one again. _

Instead, he picked out his much looser Hufflepuff t-shirt and got dressed, placing the quilt back at the foot of their bed.

Exiting, he found Roman seated at the table with a glass or orange juice and his Crofter’s-slathered pancakes, already digging in. Patton got some water for himself and plopped down beside him, stacking pancakes on his own plate and picking up the maple syrup. Normally he’d dump it all over the plate and basically drown his pancakes in syrup like some kind of sugary bloodbath, but today..today he made sure to only do a small squirt.

They struck up a conversation- nothing too deep, this and that-excited plans and more awed observations about the house, but all too soon it was time for Roman to be getting ready. Patton hadn’t quite finished, but he was plenty fine with that-taking their dishes to the kitchen counter while Roman went to get properly dressed and do his makeup.

Patton decided to sit at the little window seat while he waited- letting out a happy sigh as he sunk into the soft pink cushions that laid along the shelf, picking up a decorative pillow from the side and hugging to his chest as he stared out the clean, white framed of the window to take in the green countryside, feeling the warmth of the golden sunlight warm him.

He might have zoned out at one point-probably did, in fact, knowing how long it took Roman to get ready. Technically, the male employees didn’t have to do the full face of makeup that was required of the women, but both out of protest and the desire to show off, Roman had chosen to do it, flamboyant eyeshadow, sharp eyeliner, lipstick and all. Unfortunately, this cut a sizeable chunk out of his morning. 

Patton watched the flowers bend softly in the gentle summer breeze, the sunlight warming his cheeks. He’d probably come away from this stay as one giant freckle. Didn’t really care, just hoped he didn’t burn too badly. But how could he avoid that, when the fields were so vast, the woods so bright, the air so clear. Maybe he’d go out again today once Roman left- he could be plenty careful.

“Well, I am afraid I must be off!” announced Roman from the entryway- Patton turned. His face broke into a smile as he looked upon his boyfriend- dressed in his red and black uniform with matching scarlet eyeshadow and striking black lipstick to match. As always, he had to restrain himself from kissing the lipstick off. Instead, he rose from his perch by the window and pressed a kiss to Roman’s cheek instead, then hugged him tight. 

Roman stepped out the door, and Patton returned to the window to watch him vanish around the side of the house to the street where their car was parked. He didn’t move from there even after. Well, not for a while anyway. Despite the softness of the seat and the warmth of the sunny patch, he did eventually have to go to the bathroom- and as he returned to the living room, his eyes flickered to the door. 

 

Soon he was pulling on his shoes and grabbing his keys, locking the door behind him before stuffing them in the pocket and starting down the path. The air smelled fresh, and the golden morning light lit up the greens of the grass around him like a gentle fire.

For a moment or two he just stood there on the porch, but it wasn’t long before Patton was making his way down to the woods, stepping onto the narrow dirt trail and sending up small puffs of dust behind him as he walked briskly beneath the canopy, holding out his hands with a little grin and admiring the golden dappling of shadow and sun on his hands. 

It was different without Roman here. It felt..less like a spectacle or an adventure (Roman did have a tendency to make everything feel that way, though) and more like..

_ “...Home.” _

Yes, like home. Warm and cool at the same time, gentle and inviting. Patton found himself humming a random tune. Not only did it seem more whimsical on his own, but he found his thoughts drifting too -though that was nothing new. And as long as he stayed on the path, a little wandering of the mind was harmless. He wished Virgil could see this. After all it was broad daylight, and there  _ was _ a path, so it wasn’t like the forest was fraught with danger. His little emo friend might enjoy the greens and golds and the soft reds and blues of fruit peeking through clumps of more and more leaves, the gentle breeze, the air that was so silent except for the faint rustling of bushes and branches where small creatures made their homes and the whispering winds.

Seeing as Patton had apparently neglected to bring his phone with him (it wasn’t like he’d have service in the woods anyway, that was one downside) he didn’t know how much time had passed by the time he reached the massive oak he and Roman had rested at the previous day, but judging by his own general sense of time and the fact that it hadn’t taken that long yesterday, it wasn’t too much time. Though his feet did hurt just a bit, so maybe he was wrong.

He ended up resting there once more, finding a nice patch of soft moss that cushioned his back from the rough bark and curling up between two roots, hugging his sides loosely as he stared out in no particular direction, sighing with contentment. It was just the tiniest bit chillier in the woods, but it was also summer in Florida, so ‘chilly’ was...well, probably not at all accurate, but it didn’t really matter. 

“....does intrigue me…”

Patton’s eyes snapped open (when had they closed?) and he sat upright, glancing around frantically. He’d heard a voice. Not like last time, a voice with no words, just the shape of them- but definitely a fragmented sentence. Could it have been one of the neighbors, happening upon his walk?   
“Who’s there?”   
True, just asking like that might have been a bit foolish-but it wasn’t like he was revealing himself. He was sitting right out in the open, and maybe it was all the time he spent watching movies talking, but if he was going to get attacked by some crazy murderer or something he had a strong feeling it would not be in such a bright environment.

Though, not to his surprise, there was no answer.

For a moment, Patton sat there with bated breath, ears straining to hear something of the voice through the faint rustling of the leaves from wind and little animals. He’d almost convinced himself he’d imagined it in some state between sleep and wakefulness, when another scrap of words came to him on the breeze.

“...does look like a threat. Iron all over.”

“Harmless indeed.”

Not one voice. Two. And they seemed closer now, the words clearer-Patton leapt to his feet, spinning on his heels-

And his mind went blank.

Sitting in the branches of the tree he’d just been leaning against were two figures, their eyes fixated on him. But these weren’t random teenagers or even little kids having a laugh, no.    
They were...well, they were  _ beautiful. _

Long, delicate legs hung over the thick, twisting branches of the oak. As Patton’s eyes traveled up, he nearly averted them as he realized he was only seeing bare skin-but then he realized that the unmarked, nearly shining skin shifted to something..papery in texture- what looked like translucent leaves. No longer translucent as he looked higher-it shifted to a deep blue on one, brilliant green on the other-the strange texture appearing halfway up the arms and legs but seeming to expose the middle of the chest.    
It was when Patton saw the faces of these nearly identical creatures that it settled in his mind that there was no possible way they could be human, though his doubts were already strong.

Human eyes weren’t sapphires and emeralds- human ears didn’t point. And humans certainly didn’t have spots-(scales?) encircling their eyes, and these two did. Opposite sides of their faces, around one eye and then spreading down to the cheek, opalescent in the morning light. And while it was far more subtle than these mystifying details..

Humans didn’t have the look of an ancient youth in their eyes.

Patton meant to say something. To ask who in the world- what in the world he was seeing...but his mouth was dry. Words did not come.

He heard a laugh from the green one-a sound that came to his ears like it was brought on the wind, carefree and light, yet it wasn’t  _ joyful.  _ No, it was something else..

The moved. In unison-far too in sync to be possible in a spontaneous movement, they fell from the branches, Patton watching in slow-motion as their bodies gracefully twisted in a way that was not at all natural and yet entrancing, landing on bare feet on the mossy ground like the fall had been only inches.

Only then, faced with these two magnificent beings merely feet from where Patton stood, did he find his ability to speak again.    
“.....who- who are you?”

“What a coincidence, we were wondering the same of you?” Spoke the blue- and Patton was certain his voice was the first he’d heard. Low and smooth, cool water over stone, yet still oddly distant, despite the proximity.    
  
Wait. Respond. Um. What was the question? Who- who was he?   
  
“Um- Patton. That’s me. I’m Patton,” he stuttered out, eyes flickering between the two of them.

“And that must be all, right?” Asked the green, and his voice was like thick honey, sweet and deeper than his counterpart’s. Patton frowned, confused- all? He was only Patton, nothing else particularly interesting to say…

Thinking seemed to return him to his senses. And with his senses came a breath catching in his throat as he realized what he was facing.

Coming from the woods, creatures fairer than you’ve ever seen, speaking of iron, asking for your name. 

He’d always been one for newer stories, kinder ones, but...well, he knew the darker ones as well.

_ Faeries. _

Oh-oh. He’d just given his name- but no, the stories Virgil always countered with when he and Roman babbled on about fairies (not to be confused with faeries) said full name. First, middle, and last. He was okay. Probably.

“Yes, that’s- that’s all.” Patton replied, the uncertainty in his voice slowly beginning to fade. “So...can I um… ask who you are again?”

“You may call us Truth and Lies,” replied the blue one- Truth, judging by how he gestured first to himself, and then to his counterpart.

Well those were...interesting names.

“Was one of you what I saw yesterday?” Patton suddenly asked, the question springing to his lips almost unprompted, the curiosity suddenly consuming. He’d met fairies- no,  _ faeries _ \- how could he not be? They were right here in front of him, real, finally real, he couldn’t just leave!

“No, we never come out here. But if we did, it would certainly be alone,” Lies drawled in his honey-low voice, and Patton frowned slightly. 

“So..it was someone else then?”   
The two fae laughed in unison, the sounds melding together in a way that seemed to echo from all the trees around him-a tingle ran up his spine. There was humor in the laugh- but perhaps it was just some joke he didn’t really understand. That was why it sounded odd.

“I believe was us. I cannot be certain which you spotted, but we never travel alone.”

“But he just said..” Patton’s eyes flickered to the green fae, whose expression was an odd halfway point between mirth and..doubt. Wait. Something clicked.    
“Wait..can you only lie?”   
  
Another bout of strangely echoing laughter, and Lies grinned, tilting his head sharply to the side and tapping his nose with one finger.

“Incorrect!”

Oh. Well. Obviously, he wouldn’t know the answer from Lies’s words. But from the fae’s reaction, he seemed to be correct? Patton still glanced back at Truth for further clarification. The blue fae’s lips curled up.   
“Correct. And I can only tell the truth.”

“Ah. Well that does kinda make sense,” Patton chuckled lightly, and the two fae shared a glance. He couldn’t read it. Their expressions seemed off, slightly askew from what he’d expect to see in a way that made them just shy of understandable, yet he couldn’t stop watching.. But then to his surprise, Lies took a step forward- a gesture that made Patton’s breath catch involuntarily.

“So, are you new around here?”

Patton blinked- forcing himself to tear his eyes from the thin face -in being closer, he noticed that the two fae were both considerably taller than him, perhaps even more so than Roman.  _ But no, stop, you were asked a question! _ _   
_ “Oh- um, yes, I am. Well, kinda, my boyfriend and I just moved to a house out there for the summer, then we’ll be heading back to the city.”

“The city?” Now Truth strode forward-the act of suddenly being surrounded by the faeries humbling Patton into curling his arms around his chest, his eyes locked onto the evening sea that was Truth’s eyes, deep, intense, and _ vast _ \- and at the moment, full of scorn.

“Why would you ever want to go there, it’s filthy and overprocessed.”

“Well- it’s my home, my family and my job is there, and living out here isn’t cheap..” Of course a fae wouldn’t like the idea of living in a city- idiot, he shouldn’t have mentioned that. The last words were half mumbled. Truth only hummed lowly in acknowledgement, still with that look of mild disgust on his face- then he heard Lies click his tongue.  
  
“Come now, we want to make the poor thing feel bad, don’t we? It has to be his fault he was born in a city..” A gasp escaped Patton’s mouth as the fae’s hand brushed his- fingers long and delicate, like the branches of a willow-the skin as smooth as marble, and seeming to glow faintly from within. He was rendered dumb, awestruck, as Lies took his hand, which felt large and clumsy in the faerie’s, allowing himself to be guided back to a root on the great oak, and sitting on top of one as Lies tugged away. His skin tingled, warm and energized, where Lies’s hand had been. The fae sat back on a slightly more raised root opposite of Patton, knees tucked to his chest- reaching out with one hand and a teasing grin to beckon his..brother? They did look like mirror images of each other except for the coloring...

There was a pause before Truth did join them, seating himself on the same root as Lies, but farther back, folding his arms on top of Lies’s knees and resting his chin on them. 

“My..apologies. I did not intend any discomfort on your part.”   
“No! No, it’s fine,” Patton said quickly, reaching up to rub his neck, “You have a point, cities are a little rough-especially when you have a big family..” what was he doing? You’ve met  _ faeries, faeries! _ What are you doing babbling onto them about city life, you must sound like a fool!

“..speaking of, are there like-more of you? In here I mean?”

“Oh, of course...it’s rare you’d find a forest bare of us,” Truth replied, a slow smile spreading across his face. 

Patton suddenly felt the need to glance behind him.

“....Really?” The thought of that was daunting, nearly every wood in the world? How? How could they remain unknown, how could he not have known, if they had been six inches tall like all the stories he’d read as a child that was one thing, but..well, they weren’t!   
“How? I mean-how do people not  _ know _ ?”

Once again, the two laughed in unison, a sound that seemed to surround and envelop Patton, ticking at his ears like wind chimes just out of earshot.

“Oh Patton, no humans stumble around poking their heads out of bushes and call it hiding. I’m surprised they don’t expect us to do the same,” Lies commented offhandedly, a smile curling over the sharp features of his face.

It took Patton a minute to unravel what Lies had just said. When he did, he realized he felt mildly put out on behalf of his species.  _ Wow that was weird to think.  _ “Hey! We’re not bumbling idiots, plenty of humans can sneak up on animals and stuff!”  
  
“ _ Animals _ . Nothing with a touch of magic in its system would so easily be hunted by a human,” Truth replied, that hint of haughtiness still seeping into his cool voice.

“Oh.” Patton felt a bit..foolish for a moment, but it was quickly washed away by another burst of curiosity when the statement fully registered in his mind. “Wait- so there are like..magical creatures too?”

The two fae frowned, and Patton rushed to clarify. “Like- animals?”   
  
“Depends on what you’d call an animal,” Truth hummed, “But if you mean fae that do not look so similar to your own kind, then certainly.”   
  
“Like..” Patton wracked his brain for a good example, trying to think back to things Virgil had mentioned on the occasion, “..kelpies?”   
  
“And why that one in particular?” Lies questioned, tilting his head.

“Oh- I don’t know, just the first one that popped into my head I guess,” Patton chuckled half to himself, glancing down into his lap. “My friend Virgil mentioned them a few times, he’s got more experience in this sorta thing than me..”

“Well, they do exist. As do plenty others, though I am unsure if you humans would classify those as fae, per se,” Truth paused, and then continued, “Virgil?”   
  
“Oh!” Patton’s face burst into a grin. “Virgil’s my friend from back home. He’s kinda a nervous type, but he’s really sweet and really smart! He’s really into myths. I mean- I’m not sure he believes them like Roman and I do, maybe a little, but it’s always so fun to hear him talk about it. Mostly he likes cryptid stories, the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot, y’know, but he’s mentioned faeries too..though I guess he was a lot more right about that than we were.”    
His grin turned slightly sheepish, and he rubbed the back of his neck, watching as the two fae exchanged a glance. 

“How boring..” Lies mused, tilting his head sharply to one side, his eyes falling half-closed. “Are these all your friends?”

“Oh no!” Patton shook his head. “I have a bunch more back home, Talyn and Joan and-”

He broke off. A thought had occurred, and a thin vein of dread wormed its way into his excited mind. 

“..sorry. I don’t want to- I mean, no offense or anything, just..names and all that..” it felt wrong to say that, disrespectful even, to show that he couldn’t fully trust these two wondrous creatures, but from the way the two broke into identical, gentle smiles, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh no, dear, we do want you and your friends’ true names,” Lies assured, “and besides, first names matter the most.”  
  
“But we understand if you don’t want to keep giving them out,” Truth finished, lifting up from where he had been curled around Lies’s legs to step across the small patch of grass between the two roots and sit next to Patton, placing one hand on his knee. Patton jolted in surprise, though neither fae seemed to think his reaction odd. Despite Truth being obviously sentient and humanoid, he couldn’t help but feel the same sense of awe and wonder that he would if a butterfly were to land on his nose. The need to still, barely breathe, for fear of scaring off the magnificent, gentle creature that honored him with its rare presence.

It took him a long moment to realize one of them had actually said something while he’d been trapped in reverie-and Patton instantly felt embarrassed- goodness, he looked like such an awestruck fool.

“...um.. Sorry, I missed that,” he mumbled, eyes flickering to the ground. That same laughter echoed through the trees, and he was unsure whether to feel comforted or to curl in further. Luckily, Truth’s next words seemed to solve that problem.

“I asked about this ‘Roman’ you’ve mentioned.”  
  
“Oh! Yes! My boyfriend, he’s really-” that was when he looked up, and for the first time, caught something new in the emerald eyes of Lies where he still sat across from him. Confusion. 

_ Wait. _

“...you don’t know what a boyfriend is, do you?” he asked slowly, and to his relief (he wouldn’t want to assume lack of knowledge from what had to be ancient creatures, of course) the fae replied with “I do..”

“The literal meaning would of course imply simply a friend that is a ‘boy’, but from context I can assume that isn’t what you mean,” Truth added. Patton quickly moved to clarify.

“No, it isn’t. Well, he’s definitely my friend too, but when humans say ‘boyfriend’ it usually means like..a romantic partner. Who’s a boy. Or a man. I mean ‘manfriend’ sounds kinda..well kinda freaky if you ask me.” he laughed a little. When the only response he got was twin owlish stares, Patton quickly tried to move on.    
“Yeah, so he’s..that.”

“What is he like?” Questioned the blue fae, and Patton couldn’t help but brighten the tiniest bit, even in his offbalanced state.

“Roman? Well..he’s really brave, and funny, not scared to be silly...gets himself into trouble sometimes, but Vee and I usually get him out. He’s a great guy. And  _ such _ a romantic, he’s a drama queen like you wouldn’t believe but..yeah, it’s sweet.”   
He found himself smiling, gaze cast a bit downwards. Patton always felt sort of shy gushing about his sweet prince. When he did look up, he noticed the mirrored smile on the lips of Truth- and if he were to glance across from him at Lies, he’d see the same expression. 

“You don’t seem the type to deserve it,” came the honeyed tones of the green fae across from Patton-and Patton almost protested, until the gentle tone of voice reminded him who he was speaking to.  _ A faerie, he was speaking to a faerie!! _

Instead, he found his cheeks heating slightly. “I- well..I sure do hope so!”

“As do I,” echoed Truth, and Patton squeaked in surprise at the feeling of delicate fingers sweeping through his fiery curls-the tingling heat the touch left making him feel as if they were literally so.    
“You’re a very interesting boy, Patton..such lovely hair too.”   
  
“Oh- um, thank- thank you?” His voice only rose in pitch, which made his light blush darken and oh  _ dear _ he was such a mess!

“Truth, keep groping the poor thing, you don’t know how humans get,” Lies chastised warmly, standing up, and for a moment Truth almost seemed sheepish as he pulled away, as Patton lightly shivered.

“Apologies,” the blue fae hummed, the brief flash of emotion melting away into that vague serenity that seemed to hang about them. 

“No it’s fine! I mean it- it wasn’t groping, just- well just my hair, it’s no big deal!” he assured all in a rush, but neither fae really seemed all that perturbed. Lies stepped up behind Truth, placing his hands on smooth, angular shoulders, right where the dewy skin began to gain that strange leaflike texture.

“Of course it isn’t. He just doesn’t tend to forget that you humans don’t like certain things, that’s all. Tell me- do you have any family?”

“Family?” Patton peeked up from where he had been brushing his curls back into place (or maybe hiding his face) “Oh-  _ do I!” _ _   
_ “Do you?”

Patton made a noise that was halfway between a giggle and a groan. Truly, the sound family deserved. “Yup. There’s my older brother and sister Jasper and Victoria, my lil’ sib Casey, and then I got my moms and dad! They don’t live here though, they’re back in the city. Well- no, Casey still lives at home and Jasper got an apartment in town, but Vicky’s spending a couple years in Europe, last time I heard from her she was in Italy but I think it’s Sweden now? Anyway, none of us were super surprised when she started traveling just because she’s always kind of had a thirst for adventure, y’know? Though I kind of thought Jas would want to explore a little too. Then again maybe he made the right choice, Ma and Dad were all over me when I told them I was moving away for the summer, at least Mom had a little more confidence I wasn’t going to die..” a fond smile slipped onto his face as he recalled the dozens of worried hugs and the kisses peppered on every single freckle. The silence fell over them for a moment, warm and gentle- until the particular topic sparked curiosity in Patton, and he looked up to where Lies stood tall over where Truth sat, their faces nearly mirror images, expression and all.

“.....Actually- if you don’t mind me asking, are you two brothers? Or- siblings?”

He watched them share a glance. Truth opened his mouth to answer- but to Patton’s shock, instead of words, what came out was nothing but a gust of wind. It spilled from the lips of the fae with a loud  _ whoosh _ , rustling Patton’s curls before dissipating. It almost seemed to laugh as it swept by his ears, causing the goosebumps on Patton’s skin.

He stared, wide-eyed, at Truth. But neither Truth nor Lies seemed concerned, only...annoyed?

“What was-”   
  
But Lies cut him off with the wave of his hand. “Oh no, no, incredibly important. It’s complicated really, that’s not what happens if I try and speak true or Truth tries to say anything that isn’t true.”   
  
“It...comes out like wind?”   
  
“Indeed,” Truth sighed, taking one of Lies’s hands and pulling him down to sit. The green fae did not resist, instead leaning his back onto Truth’s side, though his face remained twisted towards Patton.

“Simply a mess of wording. What I mean to say is that we are not…” he paused, pursing his lips, “ _ exactly _ siblings, the way a human might define it. But I believe the relationship is similar enough that you may call us such, if you find it easier to comprehend.”

“Oh. I see. So...can you tell me what you  _ are _ , then?”

But the two fae only responded with a laugh, and Lies waved a hand, brushing it off.   
“Oh, I’m afraid so. It would take far too little time..”

“That’s okay!” Patton replied quickly, flashing a wide smile. He wouldn’t want to pry or anything...these things might be sacred or something after all!

“So, are you enjoying our little wood?” Truth asked, tilting his head to one side and offering Patton a wide smile that curved over his high cheekbones. Patton found himself nodding vigorously- because really, how could he not?

“Absolutely! I mean…” he gestured to the greenery surrounding them, spreading his arms wide. There just...well, he couldn’t find the words. “It’s...it’s  _ magnificent _ .”

“Isn’t it?” Truth’s words were laced with something Patton might call..pride. And with them came a shift in feeling.

These beings  _ were _ the forest, he felt it in how they spoke of it. He stilled-only to start when he realized that Truth had extended a slender hand towards him, a glimmer in the deep, blue pools that were his eyes.

“Speaking of….what do you say to a little tour? The experience can be rather thrilling.”

A tour? Of the woods? With...with them? The words were warm. It did sound wonderful..imagining all that he hadn’t yet seen-and if what he had was this breathtaking, imagine more! Imagining- imagining what the  _ fae’s _ wood might be like..would the trees be alive? Would there be houses grown from the plants themselves? Or tiny faerie children running about dirt pathways, flowers in their hair and laughter in their eyes?

Patton’s hand lifted, almost on its own- and his fingers were almost brushing Truth’s when he remembered. He pulled back, and caught a flash of...disappointment? In the eyes of the two fae.

“I- I’m sorry, I can’t. I have work soon, I’ve got to get home!”

“Oh,” was Truth’s only response, though Lies seemed to show a bit more disappointment that his counterpart. But he smiled, twisting to fully face Patton as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

“That isn’t fine at all, we don’t understand.”   
  
“Thanks,” Patton sighed, flashing a sheepish smile. “I can come back tomorrow though!”   
  
“Terrible,” Lies replied. His thumb brushed lightly over Patton’s cheekbone, and Patton couldn’t help but freeze, a flush rising to his face. 

Lies rose to his feet, and Truth did the same, a gentle smile appearing on his face to mirror his brother’s. He brushed his fingers through Patton’s curls once more.

“We look forward to it, Patton.”

Patton grinned broadly through the fluttering in his chest, getting up too and dusting plant mater off his shorts.

“Goodbye!” he called, dashing off down the path with a buzz running through his veins. He glanced back for just a moment as he reached the edge of the clearing, only to witness...nothing.

The fae were gone. Yet he did not quite feel alone.

The feeling was a but odd, but not unpleasant. Suppose he’d have to get used to it.    
Oh- oh my. Get used to...to  _ this _ !!! To  _ faeries _ !!! Roman was going to flip! Patton bounced on his heels, barely able to contain his excitement as he booked it down the path-how was he going to hold this in at work, this was the most amazing thing that had ever happened in his life…

He’d  _ known _ this summer was going to be  _ magical! _


	3. I say you intrigue me, bright as you are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: brief body images issues, sympathetic deceit

Work was torture. Not because Patton disliked his job-far from it, he enjoyed watching people splash color onto cups and plates and little figurines.  And even working at the kiln wasn’t too bad-though hot, but it was summer in Florida, so that wasn’t too much of an issue. He was pretty used to the heat at this point. It being summer, of course, there were more customers, which meant more hectic days, but this specific establishment was run by a very nice lady named Via who believed in the workplace being a friendly environment for all involved. And her wife Esther always brought donuts on Wednesdays, so there was that too. Even if Patton had stopped partaking lately. So overall, it was a pretty nice job. 

No, Patton’s suffering was not at all employment-based, but rather, patience-based. How was he supposed to just stand around doing normal person work when he, Patton, just a few hours ago, had met _faeries??_ It was taking all of his self-control to not bounce on his toes and begin to gush on about that magnificent experience to every one of his coworkers and the customers to boot!

Luckily, he managed not to. Roman might share his joy when they both got home, but the general populous wouldn’t, and Patton knew that they wouldn’t, and furthermore he did not want all his work friends thinking he was crazy. Heck, half of them already thought he was for refusing Esther’s donuts!  
Okay, maybe that wasn’t quite the same thing. 

Nevertheless, by some very human miracle, he managed to make it through the day with only the occasional comment about how he had more energy than normal. Which was fine. He managed to be his usual outgoing self without too much suspicious activity up until clock-out, where he ditched his uniform as quickly as possible and hopped on his brand new baby pink bike with so much gusto that he very nearly fell flat on his face. In fact he likely would have, had Elliot not also decided to bike to work today. They caught him just in time, tugging him back to his feet by the shoulders. In an effort to play off his near-death (okay, maybe not quite that bad) Patton laughed, but he was sure that between his face and hair, he looked entirely the same color.

“Thanks,” he said, slightly breathless.  
  
Elliot rolled their eyes, but there was a fond smile on their face. “Yeah, no problem Patt. Pretty sure I’m not the only one who doesn’t want you faceplanting into the pavement.”  
  
“Oh for sure- if you hadn’t been there I would have been _Splatt_ -on!”

Patton beamed as Elliot sighed.

“Take it back, you can perish on the floor for all I care.”  
  
“Aw, C’mon, it’s not that-”  
  
“Nope.” They held up a hand, face deadpan. Patton only giggled. “I am not letting you get a combo in there. How’s the new place?”  
  
“Oh!” Puns forgotten (much to the very sun’s relief) Patton brightened, brushing a few stray curls out of his eyes.

“It’s lovely! Even moving in was a blast, it’s just so…homey, y’know? Like something out of a storybook. And the woods! There’s this forest out back you see, and it has the most beautiful little stream, and the trees are _huge,_ and- oh gosh you won’t believe this-”

He caught himself just in time. No! Bad Patton! God, was his mouth really that big? He just couldn’t wait, he’d had this massive revelation bottled up inside all day, and he’d almost been that careless?  
“What?”  
  
“Oh-” thinking quickly, Patton swung his leg back up onto his bike and made a bit of show of being careful to buy himself another two seconds. “I found this strawberry patch! Yeah, maybe I’ll pick some and Ro and I can make strawberry shortcake this weekend!”

Phew. Elliot tilted their head, clearly interested, but didn’t add anything until Patton was done putting on his helmet.   
“Sounds like a fun time. I won’t keep you any longer- I’ve been late to too many shifts already, now you get back to your man!”  
They laughed good-naturedly and gave a small wave as they headed inside the shop, and Patton grinned back over his shoulder before taking off down the road.

*

“Oh there you are my sunlight, my world is golden and warm again!”  
  
Patton laughed at his boyfriend’s dramatic, but routine greeting. And on par with that routine, he shut the door, dropped his keys in the little dish that they had put on the windowsill nest to the door, and let Roman sweep him into his strong arms, giggling as they kissed with way more passion necessary for people who had only been apart for about eight hours. If there was any perk to not have or be visiting Virgil constantly, it was that he wasn’t there to loudly call them gross and chuck a pillow, stuffed animal, blanket, comic book, magazine, tissue box, or on one occasion of extreme sleep-deprivation, his cat SV- at their faces.

They separated eventually, both giggling, and Roman set Patton down with a slight _“oof.”_

“Roman you won’t believe what I saw in the woods today!! Faeries Roman, I met real faeries!!”

The words spilled out of Patton’s mouth before anything else-even a hello, nearly squealing the last words in his pure excitement. 

He felt Roman’s hands go still in his, a look of pure shock spreading over his boyfriend’s face. An expression that soon morphed from shock to disbelief, then hope, and then an excitement so strong that Patton was sure that, if they were cartoon characters, his eyes would have turned into stars.   
Patton laughed, and then Roman laughed, and they gripped each other’s hands tight- and before long they were dancing like children in a little ring, laughing and squealing, because faeries were real and they lived in their backyard!!!

“Tell me everything!!” Roman exclaimed breathlessly once they had finally run out of energy and stopped the gleeful dance, and Patton nodded wildly, grinning so hard it hurt his cheeks as he dragged Roman to the couch, bouncing on the white cushion in his poorly-contained joy.

“Okay so- after you left I hung around a bit, and then I got bored, so I headed out to the woods y’know? It wasn’t really as fun without you at first, so I ended up back by that tree we saw last time. Beautiful tree, I think it looked even prettier in the morning! Oh- but anyway I think I fell asleep for a bit- and then I was hearing these voices, so I stood up and turned around- and when I did- faeries!!”

“How many?” Roman asked eagerly, his eyes sparkling, “How big were they? Did they have wings? Were they butterfly wings or like- insect wings? Or petals? What were they like?”  
  
Patton shook his head quickly, but the smile never left his face.   
“No, no wings- they were actually your height I think, maybe taller? But they were _beautiful_ Roman, the way they _moved_ \- they were like dancers, or acrobats..it was amazing. But they talked to me, and we introduced ourselves- I’ll tell Virgil not to worry, I didn’t give my full name- but they’re called Truth and Lies, and they’re brothers! Well, sorta..they’re cursed you see- well, I think- Truth can only tell the truth and Lies can only lie, so they talk a little weird, and sometimes it’s just wind? Anyway- they said I could see them again tomorrow!!”

And just like that, Roman deflated.

“…I have a shift tomorrow..” he moaned, sparkle fading from his eyes like a puppy who had just had its favorite treat thrown in the trash.   
  
“Oh. Well-” Patton quickly squeezed his hands, worry flashing over his face- oh _dear,_ in his excitement he’d forgotten, “Don’t worry- if they’re okay with meeting up tomorrow I’m sure they’ll be okay with showing up on Friday, right?”

“..right.” 

“I’ll tell them you want to meet them okay? They’re really friendly, I’m sure they’ll be okay with it! Plus, who wouldn’t want to meet such a charming prince?”  
Smiling, Patton leaned in to nuzzle Roman’s nose, which caused his boyfriend to let out a high-pitched squeal. And then a bout of giggles, which Patton soon found himself mirroring as Roman’s hands cupped his round cheeks and he began to pepper kisses over every single freckle. And then finally, his mouth landed on Patton’s, and the kisses turned from feather-light and playful to slow and sweet. By the time they separated, the immediate concern had been forgotten, and somehow Patton had ended up on Roman’s lap. Neither of them minded this, however. 

In fact, for a few minutes they just sat there in the light of the sun streaming through the window, with Roman’s arms slung around Patton’s middle- until Roman’s stomach rumbled.

“So….Chinese tonight, Rosebud?” he suggested- then pouted when Patton frowned and firmly shook his head. It wasn’t dinnertime quite yet, but Patton was hungry too, and with their slightly uncoordinated work schedules, he and Roman often ended up eating early, so food was something to be thinking about. However, despite his enjoyment for Chinese takeout, a more disciplined part of Patton’s brain rejected the suggestion.

“No, we had pizza last night Ro- and I made waffles this morning! We should get something healthier, at least make something ourselves?”

“Oh, alright, fine,” Roman sighed, though he was milking the disappointment a bit. “How about…enchiladas?”

Patton smiled conspiratorially at that, then rose from the couch and turned, trading out the expression for his most over-the-top stern look, placing his hands on his hips to really sell the bit.  
“Are you going to going to spill the sauce all over the counter and then draw a dog with it instead of cleaning it up again, young man?”  
  
“Nooooo?” Roman laughed, putting on his best “innocent face”, which made him laugh, and then Patton laughed, and Roman jumped up from the couch and took Patton’s hand, tugging him towards the kitchen.  
“I promise, no enchilada sauce masterpieces on the counter!”

The enchiladas went without incident (well, except for Patton dropping a bowl on the floor, but nothing was spilled and nothing broke, so it was fine) and soon the couple was seated together at the table, happily eating. It was well into the evening now, and Roman had been recounting work stories. Mostly bitching about this one lady who had come in with her seven-year-old son (which was fine as long as he didn’t break anything) and upon Roman coming up to her to ask if she was finding everything she needed, glared at him, covered her son’s eyes, and backed out of the store as if he was some ghoul asking if he could eat her child’s heart rather than a store employee just doing his job. Patton was listening intently and offering his full support in the rant, and Roman had just started to list all the other times people had been horrified to see a man in makeup working at a beauty store- when the doorbell rang.

That was odd. They weren’t expecting anyone, Virgil wasn’t the type to show up out of the blue and for that matter- neither were most of their friends. It could be the mailman, but that was unlikely, so that really didn’t leave much. Then again, after this morning, the oddness of the doorbell ringing when no one was expected seemed like nothing. Nevertheless, Patton quickly pushed back his chair and stood, Roman following, and opened the door.

Before them stood a friendly-looking man in perhaps his late thirties or early forties, with pinkish-purple hair and a tan sweater. He looked a tad surprised that they’d answered the door, but waved, then held out a hand to shake.

“Heyo! So you’re our guests for the summer, hm? Nice to meet you, I’m Emile Picani.”

“Oh!” This must be one of their neighbors. Patton took his hand and shook it, then offered a large smile and stepped back slightly.

“Sorry, we weren’t really expecting any visitors- I’m Patton Sanders, and this-”  
“Roman Prince, delighted to make your acquaintance.”  Patton rolled his eyes playfully at the little bow his boyfriend offered their neighbor before taking his hand and shaking it firmly.

“My boyfriend,” Patton finished with a sigh, slightly relieved at the way Emile laughed at said boyfriend’s antics. “Why don’t you come in?”

“Oh no, I just wanted to say hello, I shouldn’t be intruding-”  
  
“Nonsense!” Roman proclaimed. “We were just finishing up dinner, and it’s always good to get to know your neighbors, right?”  
  
“Well..if you’re alright with it, I suppose.” 

He stepped inside and Roman closed the door behind him. Patton quickly excused himself to clean up their dinner dishes, and before long they were all seated in the little living room area, Roman and Patton together on the couch and Emile in a white wicker rocking chair.

“So where are you two coming from?” Emile asked.

“Oh, not far,” Roman replied. “I’ve been around, but my family moved to Portsmount city when I was sixteen, and dear Patton has lived there all his life.”  
  
“That’s right! I’d always really wanted to see some country, so we figured rather than renting a place together we could try somewhere a little more rural for the summer and..y’know, see how we liked it!”  
  
“Aww, how sweet,” chuckled Emile “Though I wouldn’t call our little spot of town country really.”  
  
“Well it’s pretty close to me!”

“Fair. Suppose I’m kind of the same myself in a way- I’ve lived here all my life. Makes the commute a bit of a pain, but the view is worth it.”  
  
“You have?” Roman asked, leaning forward a bit with interest. “Got any stories to tell?”

He was grinning slightly, and Emile laughed again, though it was a bit high-pitched.

“Oh, plenty, but if I recounted all of them we’d be here all night. Maybe I can humor you another time?”  
  
“Of course,” Patton replied.   
  
“Plus, most of them aren’t really the town’s, if that’s what you’re after. Dare I say it’s not really too eventful a place, but it’s pretty darn homey.”

“Seems that way..” Patton’s voice trailed off almost dreamily, but his eyes sparkled- _not an eventful place?_ He’d never heard anything less true.

“So what do you two do?”

“Well I, am an actor!” Roman proclaimed, puffing out his chest slightly, “But in between shows I’m just a Sephora cast member for now.”  
  
“An actor? My my, that’s wonderful! Though I can’t say I’m surprised, you definitely have the attitude.”  
  
Roman beamed at the compliment, while Emile turned his sights on Patton. “And what about you?”  
  
“Oh, I work at Color Me Mine.”  
  
“Color Me Mine?” he tilted his head, confused, “Can’t say I’ve heard of that place.”  
  
Patton just waved a hand, unbothered. Most people didn’t know where he worked. “It’s a shop where people can come and paint their own ceramics- bowls, plates, figurines-that sort of thing.”  
  
“Creative types then?”  
  
“Mhm!”  
  
Emile pushed his glasses up his nose. “Well our little spot is going to be lucky to have you then! I’m a therapist myself. Shame I can’t have my office out here, I think a natural environment can really help clear the mind and make sessions easier. But it’s obviously too far.”

“You can say that again,” Roman snorted. “Our friend Virgil still lives in the city and most of his texts so far have been asking if we’re dead. I’m only half-certain that he’s joking…”  
  
“I’m sure we’ll get him out here for a visit sooner or later,” Patton assured.   

“Sounds like you’ve got a mom friend experiencing empty nest syndrome,” Emile joked, and they all laughed.

“Virge means well, he’s just a bit uh..” Patton rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Well, Ro and I can be a bit crazy when left alone, he’s normally kinda a voice of reason for us.”  
  
“Ah, I see.”

“Speaking of friends,” Patton began, eager to keep the conversation flowing- he liked Emile, wanted to keep speaking with him. “Have you got any around here?”  
  
Emile let out a chuckle, shaking his head. “No, not around here. There aren’t really too many people here anyway- not on the edge of the country at least. Most of the people I know live up in Vaybury proper.” 

Vaybury was the actual town they were staying in- well, technically. Houses trickled off once you got out of the main area of town, and the house Roman and Patton were staying in was on Becker Street, pretty much the last real street before you hit real country, and there were only about six or seven houses on it. Some of them weren’t even occupied. So what Emile said made sense, though it disappointed Patton somewhat.  
  


Their chatting continued for another ten minutes or so, pleasantries and enjoyable-if shallow, small talk, before Emile announced he was grateful for their hospitality and happy to make their acquaintance, but he should be getting back home. But of course, Patton being Patton and Emile seeming to have similar traits of good-natured talkativeness, they had ended up continuing the conversation with Emile leaning by the doorway. Roman had just finished up telling the story of all the hoops they’d had to jump through to even be able to see this place, and Patton picked up right when he finished with their first impressions.

“You can see why we picked this place,” Patton laughed, gesturing to the rosebud wallpaper. It was very 1950s, but when Roman saw it he had picked Patton up and teased him about how he was all over the house already- and Patton had giggled and blushed as pink as the little flowers themselves. But he didn’t reiterate that part to Emile, it seemed a bit too personal. “It’s just beautiful, and the view is gorgeous- I know it seems a bit silly but it was kind of the home I always pictured living in as a child..” he ducked his head slightly, brushing vermillion curls from his eyes, but their neighbor smiled along with him.

“You can see why I just had to insist,” Roman said with a large smile, wrapping his arms around Patton’s middle and making him squeak, “My dear sunlight was shining like his namesake when we finally got here- not to mention on our walk in the woods! Though I doubt I was much better,” he chuckled, “That forest is just magical, is it not? I swear I was certain we’d come across Rapunzel’s tower any minute!”  
But Emile frowned at that statement.

“You…went into the woods? For how long?”  
  
“Oh, only an hour or so,” Roman responded, waving a hand, “At least when I was there anyway-Patton was telling me all about his adventure this morning as soon as I got home!”

“You went alone into the forest?” 

Patton nodded- and for a moment he was afraid Emile would be angry- or that there was some terrible danger there that the fey hadn’t warned him of..but Emile only looked concerned. He sighed, pushing horn-rimmed glasses up his nose.  
  
“I…wouldn’t do that if I were you. The fringes are usually fine, but the deeper you go- well, there are wild boar in there. Not a good place for visitors, or locals for that matter.” He shook his head and placed one hand on the door frame, stepping out into the evening sun.

Roman and Patton shared a glance, and after a moment Patton stepped out of his boyfriend’s arms and offered the concerned man a small smile.

“We’ll keep that in mind- thank you. And it was great meeting you!”  
  
“You too,” Emile replied, giving them one last friendly nod, before he stepped down the path and Patton closed the door behind him.

They stood in those positions, staring at the door, until Roman voiced what was going through both of their heads.  
“…Do you think he knows?”  
  
“I…I don’t know.” Patton’s voice was quiet, his gaze cast to the floor. “He could.”  
“Perhaps you could ask them tomorrow?”  
  
“Oh- yeah, I can.” 

There was a moment of silence.  
“I’m sure it’s nothing though,” Patton assured. But only the air would relax at the words, because though both of them nodded, neither of them would really take the comment to heart.

*

It rained the next morning. Not a light drizzle either, but the heavy summer rain- Patton left the house swaddled in a bright blue raincoat, his hands shoved in his pockets. It felt better once he got into the woods, but the branches would often bow under the weight of the rainwater and dump hundreds of drops down onto is head. Despite his hood, by the time Patton reached the clearing the fey had appeared in, his red curls were plastered to his face and his glasses were completely fogged over.

He honestly wasn’t sure if Truth and Lies would appear today, with this weather…but he wasn’t going to assume anything. The massive oak that stood proud in the center of the clearing, to Patton’s relief, was tall, dense, and wide enough that it didn’t seem to be showering the ground with droplets, so Patton found a relatively dry root to perch on and pushed back his hood, shaking the water from his hair like a puppy.

He unzipped the raincoat too, just enough so that he could use the hem of his faded pink shirt to clean away the moisture from his glasses and slip them back on- and then jolted backwards in shock, smacking his head against the trunk of the oak and letting out a yelp of pain, for there were the two faeries, hanging from a branch by their knees and twisted together like a butterfly’s cocoon, both pairs of eyes staring straight at him.

“Oh, _Patton!”_

With his eyes closed, he couldn’t be sure as to whose petal-soft fingertips lifted up his chin before sliding around to feel among his wet curls for any sort of bump on the back of his head, but judging by the silky tone, it was Lies.  
  
“We don’t offer any apologies for startling you so..that looked comfortable.”  
Definitely Lies. Patton opened his eyes, still seeing flecks of sparkle at the edge of his vision- ow, that was going to swell most likely- to see the green fey only inches from his face, with Truth just a little farther away, his hands placed on the root right next to Patton’s right thigh and leaning  over his shoulder. Instantly, Patton’s cheeks flushed, and he let out another squeak, this time one of embarrassment. 

“No! No it’s okay, just a little bump- clumsy me really, not your fault, it happens all the time!”  
  
“Are you certain?”  
  
Patton’s nodded vigorously, and to his relief the two moved back a bit, sitting down on a raised root opposite him. Not that he minded their presence, it just…it surprised him, and despite his friendly nature having such fantastical creatures only inches from his nose- it just- it was scary! Not because he was scared of them, of course, it just…it felt like they were looking right through him.

“Well…that’s good. We almost thought you wouldn’t come. What with the rain and all. I find most humans prefer not to go out in such weather.”  
  
“Oh- I wouldn’t miss it!” Patton quickly exclaimed, “I mean, sure the rain’s kind of a pain, but that’s why I have a coat!”  
  
“That’s good,” Truth smiled, “We’re glad you’re here.”

“Of course- what was I going to do, watch TV instead of meeting with faeries?” The notion was ridiculous- Patton laughed, and the two fey added their musical giggling to the mix of sound. Patton felt a spark of pride for getting them to laugh.

“True, true, but you must remember that of course not everyone is willing to accept our existence.”

“Right.” Patton..he felt bad for those people. Those who refused to accept there might be childlike wonders in the world..maybe he got called immature or gullible for his willingness to accept the fantastical- but that was fine. Their loss.

“So..Patton.” He was jolted out of his musings by Lies’s smooth voice, and looked up, to see the green fey tapping his glimmering cheek.

“What do you think of that tour?”  
  
“Tour? Oh-OH!” Patton flushed, embarrassed at his absentmindedness, “Of the woods?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Um…well, I don’t really think I should. Don’t want to lose track of time, y’know?”  
They just blinked.

Patton shifted on the damp root, suddenly self conscious, and looking for a subject change- when he remembered the conversations of the previous evening.

“Nevermind- actually, I kind of wanted to ask you two something?”  
  
“Of course,” replied Truth, leaning forward a smidge as both tilted their heads. Patton brushed a hand through his wet curls, trying to push them back into something that made him look a little less like a drowned poodle.

“Well..Roman really wants to meet you, but he couldn’t actually come today- but he’s free on Friday…so if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I was kind of hoping maybe we could meet then too? So he could meet you?”  
The words came out in a bit of a rush, and when Patton looked up almost sheepishly, he was met with the sight of the two fey sharing another one of their odd looks. 

“That sounds terrible Patton..” Lies said with a smile, after a moment of that silent discussion, “Was that all?”  
  
“Ye- no! No, there was actually one other thing..” bringing up Emile felt..more invasive. But he’d promised Roman he’d ask..and he was horribly curious himself.

“Our..new neighbor came over last night. He’s really nice- but it kind of ended on a..not-so-good note. He warned us to stay out of the woods.”  
  
“Well of course, none of the humans who’ve settled here find themselves afraid of the forest,” Lies dismissed, waving a hand and leaning onto Truth’s shoulder. Judging by the blue fey’s expression (hard to read as it was) he didn’t seem to think this anything important either.  
  
“…Well yeah- but you know, we were just a little worried that he knew something- you don’t know an Emile, do you?”  
  
He felt a bit bad, possibly giving out part of someone else’s name..but it’s not like he could just describe him right? They had to have seen so many people.

“Emile?” Truth frowned, tapping his delicate fingers on Lies’s knee, “No, I don’t remember any human by that name in recent years..”  
  
“I definitely remember him.”

Patton felt his shoulders relax slightly- and a laugh escaped his throat. “Of course- I knew it was probably silly, but I just wanted to check.”  
  
“Of course, cautiousness pays off well.”

“You sound like Virgil,” Patton chuckled. Well, Virgil would have phrased it more like “People can call you paranoid, but they won’t be laughing when you’re stocked for the apocalypse and they aren’t.”

He missed Virgil..

“Well then Virgil must be immensely intelligent,” Lies commented, holding out one hand in front of his face, observing his nails- and Patton almost frowned. Lies’s odd opposite-speak was a bit hard to adjust to, true, but Patton caught on quick- and he swore the fey had just called his friend stupid!  
  
“Hey, he’s n-”  
  
But Patton was cut off by the sound of Lies’s laughter as Truth, his face pinched with offense, pushed the green fey off of the root and onto the slightly muddy grass. Lies let out a shriek, his laughter turning to something of disgust as he leapt to his feet and quickly brushed the mud from leaflike skin. And Patton suddenly felt immensely silly for jumping to conclusions, as he realized that Lies was in fact, taunting his brother.   
But he also didn’t really blame himself- years of going to bat for his friend had conditioned him to be very protective. And that was a good thing!

He found himself muffling a giggle with one hand, then almost jumped as he suddenly felt a body press against his side. Quickly turning his head, he realized that Lies had slid onto the root next to him instead of his brother, and wrapped his arms around Patton’s left arm, tucking in close. It sent Patton’s cheeks absolutely ablaze, his laughter dying in his throat (along with any other sounds he might consider trying to make) but the fey didn’t even seem to notice, instead flashing a wide smirk at Truth.

“Well, if you’re going to be _that_ way, maybe I’ll just make sure to share this one..”  
  
“As if you wouldn’t have been caught in your own web centuries ago without me,” Truth sniffed.   
  
“Well excuse me for refusing to have any fun at all..” Lies drawled, letting go of Patton’s arm only to drape himself over his lap, slinging one slender arm around Patton’s shoulders to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. Warm tingles spread down his spine, and Patton shivered. He almost felt like he couldn’t move, or speak. He didn’t want to disturb the delicate scene.

“Now who’s groping the poor thing?”  
  
“Hm? What do you mean?”

It was then Patton realized that the two were indeed aware that he was still there- and probably even his reactions to their actions..which made him hide his hands in his face in order to cover up a blush that probably made every freckle on his face stand out like seeds in a watermelon.   
“No-it’s um-” god he couldn’t even get a word out “fiNE it’s fine I don’t really mind.”  
Lies laughed- and leaned up to press a delicate kiss to Patton’s temple before sliding off his lap. Patton went absolutely rigid, and by the time his thoughts calmed down he realized the green fey had perched himself back on the branch over Truth’s head, dangling one arm and one leg over like it was a perfectly soft sofa and not a cylinder of wet, rough bark.

“Now now Patton, remember, obvious lies aren’t _my_ job.”

He had the feeling he was supposed to laugh at that, but as he was currently engrossed in trying to function like an actual person who wasn’t a tomato in a raincoat and could speak words, it was a bit difficult.

“I apologize for him…” Truth sighed, brushing a droplet of water off of one of the cobalt spots on his cheek.

“No- no, it’s really fine I mean it,” Patton managed to get out, though he did end the sentence with a very awkward high-pitched giggle that he would rather have avoided. He kicked his legs a little in an effort to distract himself.

“Hm…you said your “boyfriend” couldn’t accompany you today- why is that?”  
  
“Oh, he has work. His shift is a lot earlier than mine,” Patton explained quickly, grateful for a subject change. He received no answer immediately, but did notice Truth tilt his head thoughtfully, and heard Lies let out a scoff from his place languishing on the branch.  
  
“Work. I didn’t think humans would have gotten over such a notion by now, of course I suppose it wasn’t vital a time ago..but now you seem to do it just for boredom!”

…Patton couldn’t honestly argue too much there. He might be an optimistic soul who, while having a very strict moral compass, didn’t like to dwell too much on the terrible things about the world he couldn’t do anything about as a single person, but you couldn’t live around Virgil without being fully educated as to the sins of capitalism and the emptiness of what most people were brainwashed to believe was “necessary” work in order to earn the basic right to live.

“Yeah..it’s a..thing.”

“What does he do anyway? You’ve all gotten past farming right?” Truth asked a bit boredly, tracing a pattern on the root with his finger. Patton pursed his lips, trying to figure out how to explain it all.

“Well…I mean no, a lot of people still farm since we need food, but thanks to technology most people have other jobs. Roman um…well he works at Sephora, which is a store that sells makeup, which is like- facepaint! Yeah, humans paint colors on their face to make themselves look different.”  
  
“Oh how despicable!” Lies exclaimed- a little to Patton’s surprise, considering the…well not disinterest, he wouldn’t call it that, but general..detachment, that the two fey had expressed so far.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Oh, it’s just so awful to hear you’re finally taking some enjoyment in your little lives,” Lies said with a smile- and Patton felt his own lips curl up too, the faerie almost seemed to glow when he grinned, despite the cloudy sky and tree shading the three of them.   
“Humans in the past were just so _interesting,_ not scared of their own shadows and not a single hour of the day spent working!”  
  
….Honestly, Patton could…see that. He wouldn’t want to live a few hundred years ago, even if it was some alternate universe where there wasn’t any of the admittedly awful social norms..he’d feel trapped. Trapped in one role, in one or two places, with little ability to know what else was out there or meet new and interesting people unless he dedicated decades to traveling. He wouldn’t quite call the humans of the past “scared of their own shadows” as opposed to “superstitious” but here he was talking to a pair of faeries so…that assumption could be wrong. In fact it probably was. Goodness, he was still having revelations!

“….tton?”  
  
“Huh?” Patton’s head snapped up in surprise- and immediately felt something soft against the back of his skull. He quickly realized it was Truth’s’ hand, and then came the embarrassing realization that he had almost bashed his head into the tree again. His cheeks flushed, also because he had just realized he had gotten lost in thought while being spoken to.  
“Oh-thanks..”  
  
“Of course, we wouldn’t want you to hurt your head again.”  
  
“Are you alright?”  
  
“Of course!” Patton scooted forward, a bit away from the tree that the back of his head seemed so very fond of at the moment. “Sorry, I just..got a little lost in thought there. Again. How very.. _root_ of me!”  
  
He giggled, tapping the twisting root he and Truth were sitting on, and felt a little bit of pride in his chest as he noticed Lies’s lips quirk up again.  
  
“I wouldn’t say that’s a clever bit of word play.”  
  
“You think so?”  
  
“Of course not.”  
  
“..Gee, thanks..” Patton dipped his head a little, feeling warm and fuzzy inside. Normally people just laughed (or groaned, but oftentimes it was really the same thing with puns) not acknowledge the little joke.   
“You’re a real _sap_ , aren’t you Lies?”  
  
And there were the reactions he was used to- a musical laugh from Lies, and an agonized groan from Truth.   
  
“Please don’t encourage him…”   
  
“Come now Truth, his jokes aren’t _darling_..when will you learn to humor people?”  
  
“When doing so doesn’t result in being subjected to terribly constructed wordplay,” Truth responded flatly. “Plus, flattery is your job.”  
  
“Oh yes, and that’s why _you’re_ the _favorite_.”  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
“Face it, no one knows I’m the better seedling.”   
  
“It is likely they only say that so you don’t throw a tantrum.”  
  
Lies gasped, a look of exaggerated hurt flashing over his pointed face as he drew his hands to his chest protectively- and in that moment, the two of them so much resembled Virgil and Roman- one responding to goads with dry wit, the other teasing but reacting with “horror” when the words were turned back on him, that Patton was unable to stop himself from bursting into laughter.  
  
“..Pardon?”  
  
“It’s- oh, it’s-” Patton let out another bout of laughter at seeing the expression crossing the face of the two faeries, and by the time he stopped, his face was still glowing with mirth.

“You just- you argue just like Virgil and Roman!”  
  
“…We do?” Truth’s voice was…actually surprised. And a little confused. It was the first time in the hours he’d spent with them that Patton was actually certain that he knew what was going on in the fey’s head.  
  
“Yes! They bicker just like brothers sometimes, it’s adorable!”  
  
He got no response. Truth and Lies simply glanced at each other, but Patton was too full of glee to feel embarrassed at the silence.   
“..Say, do you think we’ll ever meet this Virgil?” asked Truth, and Patton briskly answered.  
  
“I’d like you to- but it probably won’t happen. I mean, he lives in the city, and it’s about an hour away when there _isn’t_ traffic..and Virge really doesn’t like driving in traffic. So if he does visit it won’t be often- and…” his smile dropped, “Well, no offense, but Virgil isn’t really..well, he probably wouldn’t feel too comfortable around you two.”  
  
“…I see.”

Lies’ response felt..wrong, to Patton. But thankfully, he was saved from delving further into that awkward topic by the sound of Night Owl. Not the actual bird of course, though it was dim out due to the rain it was still late morning, there wouldn’t be any owls about- but the sound of the alarm Patton had set to remind him when he had to start heading home to get to work on time.

“What was that?”

“Just my alarm,” Patton responded, pulling his phone out of his pocket and turning off the alarm, sliding off the root and onto the damp grass. He noticed the way Truth and Lies leaned towards him and the phone- no doubt curious, but as much as he’d like to explain, he really had to get going. Especially considering that he might get lost on the way back.

“…An alarm,” Truth repeated, and Patton nodded.

“Yeah, it’s a noise I set to play so I remember to do certain things- like, I need to go right now, for my job.”

“Oh, must you?” Asked Lies, with a tone of voice that could only be described as a whine as he slid from the branch and wrapped his arms around Patton’s waist- which made him squeak as his face was pressed into the faerie’s chest.

“Can’t you stay just a little longer?”

“….No, I’m sorry, I really have to go,” Patton insisted, very gently squirming out of the fey’s grip and ignoring his pout. “But I’ll see you on Friday, right?”

“Right,” Lies sighed, and Patton heard the soft sound of feet touching down onto grass, turning to see Truth had stood from the root, and was smiling gently.

“Right. And we are so looking forward to meeting your partner.”

He placed a kiss on Patton’s forehead- and though Patton did not squeak this time, he did blush and giggle. He turned, zipped up his raincoat and pulled his hood up over his damp hair, still smiling.

“Goodbye!”

“Goodbye,” the fey chorused, but when Patton turned back around to wave, they were gone.

Well, that seemed to be their way. So he waved anyway at the empty glade and turned around, marching off through the woods and savoring the smell of damp leaves and wood.


End file.
